The Book Club Review – Details, episodes & analysis

In this special episode, originally released for our Patreon subscribers, Kate celebrates the joys of the perfect notebook with fellow enthusiast and stationery shop owner David Frostick (Lift, Southwold). From the importance of flat-lay paper to the perfect pen we've got it all covered just in time for back-to-school season.

And then we turn to the art of notetaking. Kate and Laura discuss how they take notes on the books they're discussing on the show, and then we find out how the professionals do it, with friends of the pod, journalist Phil Chaffee and literary critic Emily Rhodes. We also hear from Bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud whose book, The Art of Mindful Reading, is full of great suggestions for how to get the most from your reading. 

If this whets your appetite come and join us at Patreon.com/thebookclubreview where for a small monthly fee (or you can sign up for annual membership if you prefer) you'll receive benefits such as Kate's weekly books email, occasional special episodes, and at the higher tier you can join our monthly book club for live discussions with Kate over Zoom. If you love the pod your support is helpng Kate make the shows, which means a lot, so thank you for considering it.

Discover David's store LIFT here.

For other things referenced in this episode here's an index to products with links.

For the love of a good lamp: 

Visit seriousreaders.com/BCR for our special offer on any HD light – use the code BCR at checkout and if you're in the UK you can also benefit from free shipping. You get a month to try out the lights to decide if they're for you, if not you can return them. We seriously love them, and think you will too.

We love a list, and we love an excuse for a conversation about books, and so we couldn't have been more delighted when the New York Times released their list of the best books of the 21st century, so far. From 503 top tens submitted by authors and other literary world folk, and a bit of statistical magic, they boiled it down to their definitive top 100. And we had to hand it to them, it's a damn good list. Still, we might argue with a few of their choices, and of course have some thoughts of our own.

And so in this episode you'll get our own Book Club Review top 20 books, some of which were on the NYT's list, most of which were not. They're the books we felt had been overlooked, books we loved and were desparate to talk about, books we want to share with you.

And so join me (Kate) and Sarah in London, Phil in New York and Laura in Vancouver as we spend a delightful hour considering the best of the best. I guarantee you'll come away with at least one book for your TBR, and hopefully you'll love it as much as we did.

No booklist, as I thought you might like to find out as you listen, but you'll find all the books discussed at the episode page on our website, thebookclubreview.co.uk

Here's the link to the NYT's list

Also do check out our episode sponsors Serious Readers, who are offering £100 off their brilliant HD reading lamps, use the code BCR at checkout. UK customers get free delivery, elsewhere you can still take advantage of the offer, but there will be a shipping charge.

It's our 2023 review of the year. Join me (Kate), Laura and Phil as we look back over our favourites, from new releases to backlist gems. Find out our overall book of the year, plus the books we're looking forward to in 2024. If you're wondering what to read next, this is the show for you, with over fifty tried and tested recommendations.

Support the show, get our weekly newsletter or join our monthly book club via Patreon.

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Find full shownotes and a transcript on our website thebookclubreview.co.uk

Book list

Favourite New Release

August Blue by Deborah Levy

The Rainbow by Yasunari Kawabata, and we also discussed Snow Country

Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks 

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton

Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlan

Favourite backlist title

Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston

Charlotte by David Foenkinos

A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr

A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel

Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden

The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd

Favourite non-fiction

This Much is True by Miriam Margolyes

A House of Air (collected writing, ed. Hermione Lee) by Penelope Fitzgerald 

The Palace Papers by Tina Brown

How to Talk About Books you Haven’t Read by Piere Bayard

Carmageddon by Daniel Knowles 

Free by Lea Ypi

Favourite Book Club Read

Super Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell

The Years by Annie Ernaux

Favourite comfort reads

Went to London, Took the Dog by Nina Stibbe

The Grove: A Nature Odyssey in 191/2 Front Gardens by Ben Dark

Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire

Madensky Square by Iva Ibbotson

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell

Going Zero by Anthony McCarten

Most disappointed by

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine (but do read Sabrina and Corina)

Patreon recommends

Loot by Tania James

Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen

Cider House Rules by John Irving

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung

The Axman’s Carnival by Catherine Chidgey

Not Now Not Ever by Julia Gillard

All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer

The Boy and the Dog by Seishu Hase

Cakes and Ale by Somerset Maugham

The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey

Machines Like Me by Ian McKewan

Death and the Penguin by Andrei Kurkov

The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting

Overall Book(s) of 2023

Septology by Jon Fosse (and we mentioned Morning and Evening)

Stay True by Hua Hsu

How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

Monsters by Claire Dederer

Books we’re looking forward to

Arturo’s Island by Elsa Moranti

Rememberance of Things Past by Proust (vol. 3)

Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce

Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford

Tremor by Teju Cole

The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut

Comfort reads to curl up with? Or books that provoke, stimulate and challenge? In this episode, we share our latest lockdown reads.

We stay close to home with period drama Belgravia by Julian Fellowes, and London-based fantasy Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. We escape to Provence with unreconstructed male-wish-fulfillment novel Hotel Pastis by Peter Mayle, and escape altogether with the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Cobb. We're delighted by heartwarming romance Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda, and intrigued by Lost at Sea by Jon Ronson. We walk in the footsteps of Raynor Winn on The Salt Path and finally consider the practicalities of sheep farming with The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks.

For many parents home-schooling their children over the coming weeks, the idea of reading in snatches of borrowed time will strike a strong chord.

After the birth of her son, Elizabeth Morris decided to put her career in the book world to good use and set up Crib Notes, a book club in newsletter form. Every month, she curates the perfect book recommendations for new and busy mothers. ‘Sometimes you just need a little spark of mental stimulation to remind you of who you are beyond being a mother’, Elizabeth explains.

Listen in for some fantastic book recommendations – for all readers, not just mums! – and some great practical tips for how to fit in reading when all you have are stolen moments.

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Sign up for Crib Notes at tinyletter.com/CribNotes

Find Elizabeth on Twitter @elizabethmoya and on Instagram @cribnotesbookclub

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Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

My Wild and Furious Nights by Clover Stroud

Constellations, Sinead Gleeson

I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell

Weather by Jenny Offill

The Panic Years, Nell Frizzell

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

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Keep up with what we're doing between episodes on Instagram and facebook @bookclubreviewpodcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod, and email us anytime at [email protected], we'd love to hear from you. If you like what we do please do take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to us, it helps other listeners find us and means you'll never miss an episode.

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang clocked in at number 80 on The Guardian's list of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. Barack Obama's a fan too. But what about Laura's book club? What did they make of this mesmerising collection of eight stories, one of which formed the basis of the film Arrival starring Amy Adams?

Real-life rocket scientists Kristy and Ed join the discussion and weigh in on the big questions. Like, will reading Chiang make you more intelligent? Do you have to be a sci-fi devotee to enjoy these stories? And finally, did the book make for a good book club discussion? All this, plus some great book recommendations for your next read.

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Find us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast

on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod

email [email protected]

Please do take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to us on iTunes, it helps other listeners find us and means you’ll never miss an episode.

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Books mentioned

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal el-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Wally Funk's Race for Space: The Extraordinary Story of a Female Aviation Pioneer by Sue Nelson

Pavane by Keith Roberts

Ed's author recommendations: John Brunner, James Blish ('Cities in Flight' and 'The Seedling Stars' [with the puddle story 'Surface Tension'] among others), and Algis Budrys

Laura reports in on The Wych Elm by Tana French, The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne and The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman. Kate's stack consists of Love by Hanne Ostavik, The Anna Karenina Effect by Viv Groskop and Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. Join us as we review them and figure out if there are any book club gems in there.

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Drop us a line at [email protected], follow us on facebook or instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast or on twitter @bookclubrvwpod. And if you enjoy the show do take a moment to rate and review us on iTunes, it helps other listeners find us and brings us joy.

Fleishman is in Trouble tells the story of Toby, a successful NYC doctor whose almost ex-wife Rachel has vanished, leaving him alone with their two children. But is she the selfish, self-absorbed, neglectful mother he portrays? 

It’s been described as a Trojan Horse of a novel, a sharp, dry portrait of the blind spots that come with male privilege and entitlement. But what did Laura’s book club make of it? Listen in to find out.

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This Tom Hanks Story Will Help You Feel Less Bad (New York Times)

How Taffy Brodesser-Akner Thrives on Stress (Real Simple magazine)

Reading the right books is key to making your book club a success. But how to choose?

Listen in to hear the top 10 books we think make for perfect book club reads. They vary from fiction to non-fiction, and cut across every genre and subject. But they're all highly readable, packed full of ideas and will divide opinion – always good for a sparky debate.

Want more? See below for links to the episodes where we've discussed these books in more detail.

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1. Educated by Tara Westover. Episode 22

2. Putney by Sofka Zinovieff

3. Bad Blood by John Carreyrou. Episode 55

4. Supper Club by Lara Williams

5. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Episode 33

6. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. 

7. East West Street by Philippe Sands. Episode 18

8. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

9. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. Episode 8

10. This is London by Ben Judah. Episode 9

Ready to start your own book club? 

This special episode tells you how, from who to invite and what books (or genre) to read, to the pitfalls you’ll want to avoid.

It's packed full of inspiration and advice from book clubs we’ve interviewed over the years, including the Proust Book Group in Paris, London's own Jilly Cooper book club, a Horror Book Club and the Walking Book Club of Hampstead Heath.

We've even come up with the top 10 recommended book club books guaranteed to get the discussing going. So, listen in for everything you need to know to start and run a flourishing book group. 

How to find the right book club books? Here are some of our recommended places to look: newspapers summer reading guides and end of year lists, in particular The Times and Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Observer and The Financial Times, The Washington Post and the New York Times; prizes The Booker Prize, The Booker International Prize (for books in translation), The Women's Prize, The Wainwright Prize (for nature writing), The Costa Book Awards, The Goldsmiths Prize (for books that open up new possibilities in the novel form), The Baillie Gifford Prize (for non-fiction), The Walter Scott Prize (for historical-fiction), in the US The National Book Award, the Pulitzer, Barack Obama's annual reading list, in Australia the Miles Franklin and the Stella Prize, and back in Europe Kate's favourite, The Dublin Literary Award (for books nominated by libraries around the world)

Book clubs mentioned in the show:

Emily's Walking Book Club of Hampstead Heath

Simon Thomas's Book of the Year Club

The Horror Book Club

The Lesbian Book Club

The London Literary Salon (Toby Brothers)

Ink84 Bookshop book club